MLB News

Lowrie, Gray key A's series win vs. White Sox

By
Jane Lee and Alex SimonMLB.com

OAKLAND -- Veteran Jed Lowrie enjoyed a three-hit day, while rookie teammates Bruce Maxwell and Jaycob Brugman combined for three RBIs to help the A's secure a 7-4 series-winning victory over the White Sox behind Sonny Gray on Wednesday afternoon at the Coliseum.

Gray was excellent, his lone mistake hit for a two-run homer by Matt Davidson in the fifth. The right-hander yielded just two other hits in six innings, striking out five and walking two in the 98-pitch outing to finish the first half with a 4.00 ERA.

OAKLAND -- Veteran Jed Lowrie enjoyed a three-hit day, while rookie teammates Bruce Maxwell and Jaycob Brugman combined for three RBIs to help the A's secure a 7-4 series-winning victory over the White Sox behind Sonny Gray on Wednesday afternoon at the Coliseum.

Gray was excellent, his lone mistake hit for a two-run homer by Matt Davidson in the fifth. The right-hander yielded just two other hits in six innings, striking out five and walking two in the 98-pitch outing to finish the first half with a 4.00 ERA.

White Sox starter Mike Pelfrey was out of the game after just 3 1/3 innings with four runs allowed on five hits, including a solo homer to Brugman in the fourth. Maxwell tagged him for a two-run double in the third.

"He got really deep into his pitch count -- he was in the 90s by the fourth inning," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "They grounded him out. He was trying to hit his spots. He ended up missing a little, [and] they worked him till they could get him out as quickly as possible."

Chicago's Todd Frazier slammed a two-out, two-run homer against lefty Sean Doolittle in the ninth inning, his 16th of the season.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Leading off:Matt Joyce set the tone for the A's with a leadoff double, continuing an encouraging offensive trend following Tuesday's seven-run output on the heels of a five-game lull. Joyce advanced to third on Lowrie's first hit of the day, easily scoring the game's first run when Khris Davis grounded into a double play. Joyce reached base two times from the leadoff spot, scoring on both occasions.

Running wild: The A's utilized the running game to generate a pair of insurance runs in the fourth inning. After Brugman's homer, Rajai Davis kept things going with a one-out base hit and proceeded to steal second and third base on consecutive pitches from White Sox reliever Gregory Infante. Joyce drew a walk against the right-hander and swiped second, putting two runners in scoring position for Lowrie, who drove both home with a two-run single for a 6-0 lead. Davis stole two more bases in the sixth under the watch of catcher Kevan Smith, who has thrown out just one of 27 attempted base stealers this season.

"It gets them on their toes a little bit, and pitchers have to be a little quicker to the plate and cognizant of him on base," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "I think I looked today and we were 13th in stolen bases in the league, so we might have moved up a little bit. When Raj gets on, he's one of the premier guys in the league and that's what he can do."

QUOTABLE"It's not good. I tried to tell myself to be more efficient, be quicker and get more outs, and I wasn't able to do that. These guys made me work, and I made some mistakes, and they seemed to put those balls in play. But [28] foul balls in 3 1/3 [innings] is kind of crazy. And I think I had 10 three-ball counts, too, which is pretty bad on my side and a pretty frustrating day." -- Pelfrey, on his 99-pitch outing

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDSThe A's finished with six stolen bases. The last time they recorded as many steals in a game was Aug. 6, 2011, against the Rays, when they had seven.

WHAT'S NEXTWhite Sox: The White Sox will have Thursday off before heading to Denver for a three-game Interleague series with the Rockies, beginning at 7:40 p.m. CT on Friday. Left-hander Derek Holland (5-8, 4.52 ERA) will start amidst a tough stretch, having gone 1-4 since the beginning of June.

A's: The A's head to Seattle to close out the first half with a four-game series at Safeco Field. Rookie right-hander Paul Blackburn will be on the mound in Thursday's 7:10 p.m. PT opener against his former organization.